Chapter Fourteen
Walk The Plank

It may have been spite that caused Chloe to peel out of the police station parking lot, or maybe she was just that desperate to get away from the most surreal experience of her life. Regardless, a cloud of smoke kicked up behind her truck as it roared onto the open road, pulling her hard towards the passenger's side as she hung a sharp left. She grumbled, remembering that she was now super late. The universe really did pick the worst possible times to mess with her.

The phone started ringing.

She glanced at it warily, then looked back at the road. It persisted in not shutting the fuck up, so she flipped it over, scooping it up rapidly when she saw who it was.

"Chloe! I need you to come get me now!"

Rolling her eyes, Chloe kept the phone by her ear as she weaved through traffic. "We really need to get you your own car."

"We don't have time for jokes right now! Rachel's in trouble!"

"Really? How? Is she in danger?"

"Only of being grounded for life. David found two pounds of pot in her locker."

She slammed her hand down on the steering wheel, causing it to jerk sharply to the right, almost sideswiping a gray Subaru, which sent a long honk chasing after her. She quickly course corrected, swerving into the lane on the other side of her as she torpedoed straight through a red light.

"That motherfucker!"

"I got a heads up from Brooke, but it's all over social media by now! This is a disaster!"

"Don't have to tell me twice. Where are you?"

"Near a café in town. I'll text you the address. Don't pick me up right in front of it, though. Park in the loading bay."

"Why?"

"…I may have been having lunch with Victoria Chase. And Nathan."

She swerved again, briefly mounting the curb, thankfully disturbing nothing more than a garbage can. "What?!"

"I'll explain when you pick me up," Max insisted. "Hurry, Chloe."

"Sure thing, Max. I'm already there."

"Drive, drive, drive!" Max commanded as she clambered into the truck before Chloe had even fully stopped.

"Nice to see you too."

Rolling her eyes, she threw her bag on the floorboard as Chloe rocketed out of the loading bay behind the café, back onto the street. Now that she had a passenger, she didn't travel quite so recklessly, though she supposed if she really fucked up, the girl next to her could fix it.

"What the fuck happened with Rachel?"

"All I know is what I told you over the phone. I found a video online, but my shitty data plan won't load it. The internet fucking sucks in this town!"

"Whoa, that sounded more like something I would say," said Chloe, grinning despite everything. "Is Max Caulfield finally ready for her punk phase? You'd look good with blue hair. Or pink."

She flashed an amused smile. "Oh, totally. I could wear some ripped jeans, maybe borrow one of your spiked bracelets. Even get a tattoo."

"Stop it, you're turning me on."

They both laughed, and Max sighed and shook her head, still smiling. "I can never stay mad with you around."

"Really? You'll have to teach me your secret one day. Meantime: why the fuck were you hanging out with Victoria and Nathan?"

"It was just Victoria and Kate at first," she explained, resting her elbow on the windowsill as she adjusted her bangs. "Victoria took down the video after that talk you had with her, and Kate actually forgave her when she apologized. They both invited me to lunch and I said yes. I wasn't expecting Nathan to show up."

"Did he hurt you?"

Max shook her head. "No. I actually tricked him into helping Victoria and Kate find out what happened to them."

"Wait, what? How?"

"I knew I couldn't straight up tell them what happened with him sitting right there, and Victoria probably wouldn't have believed me. But when Rachel and I ran into Nathan yesterday, she got him to apologize to Ms. Hoida by telling him he was a better person than he gave himself credit for."

"She said that with a straight face? She is a good actress."

"That's why I decided to take a page out of her book," she continued. "I appealed to his friendship with Victoria, and she actually helped keep him in line while I grilled him about what happened at both parties. The plan was to back him into a corner so he'd get caught in a lie and they'd both turn on him. It was about to work when I got the news about Rachel."

"Wow." She blinked for a few seconds before turning right at the next intersection, causing both of them to sway gently to the left. "That's almost as weird as my morning."

"What happened to you?"

Chloe smirked. "I got picked up by the feds."

"You did not!" Max smacked her shoulder, but the grin didn't fade. "Seriously?"

"I told you going to a wanted terrorist for advice was five hundred miles of bad road." She fished a small business card out of her pocket and handed it off to the other girl. "Here. Proof."

"How'd you escape? And what did they want?"

"They wanted me to snitch on Joseph Black Elk by getting in with Sam. And they told me some shit about Rachel that was definitely made up."

A frown worried its way onto Max's face as she held the card between her fingers and thumbs. "Like what?"

"According to those suits, the Black Elks are one of Frank's suppliers, and Rachel was supposedly running drugs for them until six months ago. They were making a bunch of shit up to get me to do what they wanted; they said if I didn't they'd go after you and Rachel."

"And what did you tell them?"

"I told them to go fuck a horse. They don't have anything that would stick in court. It's all made up."

Max squinted, handing the business card back. She was quiet for a few moments, placing a finger against her chin. "Wait a minute."

"What?"

"Two FBI agents pick you up, saying they'd expose Rachel on trumped up evidence unless you worked for them, and when you tell them no, Rachel just happens to get busted with two pounds of marijuana?"

Chloe's entire mind went blank for a second, then snapped back with a roaring inferno of rage. "Those fucking pigs! When I get my hands on them I'm gonna…" She paused, the fury abating just as quickly as it had appeared. "Wait. No. The timeline doesn't add up."

"Huh?"

"I literally just left the station when you called me. The only way they'd have time to arrange something like that is if they already knew I'd say no. Which, granted, doesn't take a fortuneteller to predict, but they were dead set on getting me on their side. Why burn their one piece of leverage?"

"Well then who'd want to frame her?"

"Step-douche, probably. He's the one who 'found' it."

"Or Nathan," Max postulated. "In the other timeline, you and I investigated Principal Wells' office. There were documents in there saying Nathan and David accused her of bringing drugs on campus. I actually talked to Rachel about it yesterday and she said the drugs were Nathan's." She placed a hand over her mouth and stroked a finger up and down her nose. "Or it could be Frank, trying to pressure you into paying back the money you owe him."

"He gave me 'til Thursday, it can't be Frank," she insisted. "But he could know more about what's happening." Her thoughts froze. "Oh shit!"

"What?"

"Rachel has Frank's money! If they find out about that, not only will it make her look even more guilty, we won't be able to pay him off, and then we'll have another problem! We need to get it before anyone else does!"

Max nodded. "Do you know where it is?"

"At her house, probably. Her dad's at work, but her mom might still be home. We'll have to sneak into her room."

"Then that's where we're headed next."

"Don't you have classes this afternoon?"

"Only with Mr. Jefferson. That's the last place I want to be right now. Rachel's more important."

Chloe flashed her a wicked grin. "You really are turning into a little punk. I approve."

"Maybe I'll be ready for the mosh pit after all."

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's hurry."

Rachel's eyes followed the dips and rises in the telephone wires, bouncing up and down in a steady, hypnotizing rhythm. Gulls soared lazily overhead, occasionally swooping down with unnecessary flourish. She started counting trees, and when that failed she broadened her pupils to try and make them all blend together.

Anything to avoid looking at her father.

"You have to talk at some point, Rachel."

"I'm exercising my right to remain silent."

They were driving home in her car, since it wasn't allowed on the campus grounds while she was suspended, and her father didn't want her running off to the junkyard or the lighthouse without them getting a chance to talk. She'd only agreed because she didn't feel up for driving after everything that happened that morning. But she wasn't going to make it easy for him.

A handful of minutes passed in which she tried to form sentences out of bumper stickers on different cars. In a rare reversal of fortune, Chloe had introduced her to that one, claiming it was a family favorite when her father took her on camping trips.

'My kid is an honors student at Blackwell… suck on my truck nutz. Huh. Haven't seen that one before.' She examined two more cars. 'Protect the Second Amendment… keep on truckin'. Okay, that one's just redundant.'

James sighed. "Rachel, I want you to know I believe you. There's no way that much marijuana would make its way into your locker unless someone planted it there. Even if you did… deal drugs, I know you'd be smarter than to keep your entire stash in a school locker."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dad."

"I'm trying to be supportive. It's just… why were you associating with Frank Bowers? If you could see the file I have on him…"

She chuckled bitterly, propping her elbow against the windowsill as she watched the lane lines blend into infinity. "Yeah, associating with dangerous drug dealers. What kind of monster would do that?"

The words skewered him, and James' reply died in his throat.

"Don't worry, dad. We've avoided talking about it for three years now. I'm ready to go another thousand."

"Rachel, I only ask because I care about you. What happened back then… I never intended for things to go the way they did. You have to understand that."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah? And how did you picture it going?"

James stared straight ahead at the road, pursing his lips as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel, then loosened it again. "She was supposed to disappear. Not… in the way she did, mind you. But he promised me she'd fall right back off the wagon. Her case for shared custody would fall apart, and…"

"Holy fuck, dad. You almost make it sound like a good thing. You'd trust the man who stabbed me in the fucking arm not to kill my mother when you hired him to make her disappear? You're an even bigger asshole than I thought."

"Rachel…"

"You know what I think? I think you're not even sorry for that. You're just worried about that kind of thing getting out if I go down for this. I don't have to tell you why I hung out with Frank. Like I said, it's got nothing to do with this."

He shook his head. "I know I have no right to lecture you after what I've done. But I want to help you. I can't do that unless I have a clear picture of all the evidence. Even if you don't consider your connection to Frank significant, others won't feel the same way."

"You said it yourself, though. Only an absolute moron would believe I'd keep a stash of weed that big in my locker."

"A fact that becomes easier to overlook as other evidence mounts up," he rebutted. "You've been accused before, and associating with a known drug dealer, regardless of whether or not any criminal activity occurred, doesn't help your case."

"No offense dad, but if I need a lawyer, I'd rather it not be you. Conflict of interest and all that."

He frowned, and his eyes returned to the road. "You know, sometimes I wish I could go back in time, and… change it all. It's the small details that really stick with you, all those years later. Maybe if I'd noticed Sera slipping sooner… gotten her help sooner… how much different would things have turned out?"

"We'll never know, will we?"

James nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry, Rachel. For everything."

"Save it." She stared out the window, squinting her eyes to keep out the glare of the afternoon sun. After a minute or so, her icy expression began to thaw. "Dad? There's something you ought to know. About Sera, I mean."

"What is it?"

"I'm only telling you this because even though I will never trust you again, I feel like it might lead to more answers about her. I never stopped digging into her; her past. I never found anything. But last night I learned that Sera did some work for the Prescotts. Starting around thirty years ago."

His mouth stayed shut, and she finally turned to look at him.

"Did you know?"

"If I did, don't you think I would have told you when I spilled all the rest of my secrets?"

"Like I said, dad: I don't trust you anymore. Not after what you did."

"I didn't know. That would have been well before I met her and we had you. The Prescotts mostly stick to Arcadia Bay; I never had any contact with them when we lived in California. If she did, I never knew about it."

"And after we moved here?"

"As the District Attorney, I occasionally deal with Sean Prescott in an official capacity, mostly at social functions and the like. But beyond that, no."

"Then why was Nathan at our house last night? Mom told me you two are part of some mentorship program, but we both know that's bullshit."

James' face hardened into an unreadable mask, and he kept his eyes forward on the road. "That's official as well. Also confidential. It concerns my work, Rachel. That's all you need to know."

"Right, why should I expect you to actually be helpful?"

"It's only fair. I have a right to privacy, just like you do. You can't refuse to share things with me and then expect me to bare all my secrets."

"Whatever. Just shut up and drive."

"Target in sight," Chloe said in an unnecessarily hushed tone, leaning forward conspiratorially as Max rolled her eyes. "The Amber residence. A humble house in a quiet neighborhood; a perfect slice of small town Americana. But what dark secrets are hidden within?"

"Are you narrating for a documentary now?"

"Our two intrepid detectives sit across the street, waiting for their opening. One is a small town rebel with nothing left to lose. The other takes pretty pictures and can shape time to her will. These are their stories."

"Okay, you straight up stole that last one."

"Hey, fuck off. It's hard to be original all the damn time. You're telling me no one influenced your photography?"

Max pushed her shoulder. "There's a difference between influence and straight up plagiarism. Especially Law and Order plagiarism."

"What? They can't sue me. They don't own it."

"I think they actually do."

"Whatever!" Chloe whipped her gaze towards the house again, gripping the steering wheel. "I'm just trying to hype us up before we go and do something completely fucking stupid."

Leaning over, Max rubbed a hand up and down her arm. "I'm as hyped as I'll ever be. Let's go, Detective Stabler."

"Emphasis on stab." She pushed the door open, and the two of them crept across the street, stopping just shy of the brick pathway that ran through Rachel's front lawn. "Okay, good. Her mom's car is gone."

"Or it's in the garage."

"Good point. This way; we can sneak around back."

Chloe led her by the hand towards the rear of the structure, where they could see the window to Rachel's bedroom on the second floor. Releasing the other girl, she planted both hands on her hips and quirked her lips to the side.

"You know, on second thought, we should rethink the detective metaphor. We're here to recover hidden treasure, right? That's gotta justify the return of Captain Bluebeard."

"And me without my eyepatch and stuffed parrot," quipped Max, finally getting into the spirit of things. She squinted, placing a hand above her eyes as she examined the window more closely. "I should be able to climb up the side if you give me a boost."

She pointed to where part of the house extended out from the rear wall, adjacent to the dining room. It ran right underneath Rachel's window, dropping off precipitously after a few feet. Rachel had used it to sneak out on more than one occasion.

"Why can't I climb it? I'm tall and lanky."

"Yes, but you're also half cigarette by this point," she retorted. "And don't worry, you'll be coming up right after me. But I should go up first because I'm the one with rewind powers."

"I'm just saying, I played a rogue for a few sessions in a game Steph was running. I had mad climbing skills."

Chortling in disbelief, Max sent an incredulous expression her way, raising her hands in front of her before letting them fall. "How does that translate into real life?"

"Whatever. We both sucked at PE."

Max laughed and shook her head. "Don't talk. Just boost."

"Up you go then, matey." She held both her hands out, and Max lifted her shoe into the opening, at which point she strained, lifting mightily as she hefted the other girl onto the roof. Max pulled herself onto the small ledge, staring back down at her with a thumbs up.

"My turn now?"

She nodded, lying down on her back and reaching down with both hands as Chloe took a running start, and they caught each other by their elbows. Max's face turned bright red as she pulled, groaning as quietly as she could. Finally she managed to clamber onto the roof, where they both sighed in relief.

"You're heavier than you look."

Chloe smirked. "It's my tragic past weighing down my soul."

She received a smack against the shoulder. "Shut up."

"You're not so light yourself, Amazing Spider-Max."

They both laughed.

"Let's get the window open."

"On it," said Max as she stood and then… disappeared.

"Max?" she whisper-shouted. "What the fuck? Max?"

A tap came from the inside of Rachel's window before a pair of small hands slid it open, beckoning Chloe inside. Max stood there grinning proudly, arms held out to her side. "How the fuck did you get in here?"

"The window was locked, and the great Captain Bluebeard had the bright idea of breaking it with her bare fist. I had to rewind so you wouldn't bleed out from the zillion different cuts you got."

She bobbed her head up and down for a few moments. "Yeah, that sounds like me."

Parting the curtains the rest of the way, Chloe shuffled across the small desk that abutted the window, careful not to knock over Rachel's computer. It suddenly occurred to her that all three of them kept their computer desks directly in front of a window.

The room hadn't changed much at all since Chloe had first seen it three years ago, and it especially hadn't been touched since earlier that morning. The twin masks of tragedy and comedy stood vigil above her dresser, and the various pieces of Rachel's star-related paraphernalia still decorated multiple small corners. The bed was directly across from them, made neatly as if it had never been slept in before. She rested both hands at the base of her skull and began to pivot slowly.

"Okay, now if I were three thousand dollars in cash, where would Rachel hide me?" She smirked at Max. "Now would be the time for that ransacking thing you do so well."

Max craned her head back, appalled. "I don't ransack."

"You never met a drawer in your life that you didn't open and snoop around in," she retorted. "What would you call it?"

"Investigating. Ransacking implies a certain degree of desperation. It's not like I'm out there tossing dresser drawers across the room. I'm careful, like a cat burglar."

She crossed her arms and gave her a wry grin. "Interesting comparison. Does this mean you've considered using your powers to lead a life of crime?"

"That depends. Would you be my faithful sidekick?"

"Hell yeah." She stroked her chin. "Rachel would work better as a break-in partner, though. Your powers don't work on her, so you wouldn't need to explain what happened every five minutes like you had to with the window incident."

Max was already examining the bookshelf that lined the wall next to the desk. "Maybe. But I'm not going anywhere without you. Not again."

"That's sweet." She kneeled down and started tearing through the desk drawers. "Let me ask you something, Max: do you like Rachel?"

The other girl paused her search, her hands clutched around a hollow, transparent globe depicting a galaxy. "Uh, yeah? She's an amazing person, and a great friend. I finally see what everyone was talking about."

"Not what I mean." Chloe shifted over to the other side of the desk, sending a glance Max's way. "Do you like her?"

Still confused, Max turned to face her and stared vacantly. "What are you really asking, Chloe?"

"It's fine if you do. I fell in love with her from the first minute I saw her. She has that effect on people." She arched an eyebrow. "I know I joked about it, but did anything actually happen Friday? You can tell me."

Max shook her head. "Nothing actually happened, but…"

"But what?"

"But Rachel absolutely hit on me. She wasn't even subtle about it. I didn't know how to feel. The whole thing seemed like a test. Every time I thought I'd figured out what game she was playing, she changed the rules. I ended up more confused than anything."

"Would you have gone for it? If she wasn't just playing games with you?"

"Chloe…" She looked lost and almost hurt, like she was waiting for the hammer to drop. "I'd never do something like that without making sure you were okay with it. I know how you feel about Rachel, and you and I still have some things unresolved. I'd never betray you like that."

Chuckling, Chloe shook her head. She'd made her sweat enough. "Relax. I'm not jealous. I actually have some news for you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Rachel and I got to talking last night, after we dropped you off at Blackwell. She wants to date both of us."

Now Max was truly confounded. She blinked a few times, her face returning to a blank expression. "Both of us?"

Chloe nodded.

"At the same time?"

"Exactly. She wants all three of us to be in a relationship together. That's why she was testing the waters with you on Friday." She glanced to the side, scratching the back of her neck. "And why I was testing you just now."

"Chloe, that's…"

"I understand if you're freaked out. I definitely couldn't wrap my head around it at first. Maybe I should have waited for Rachel to have this conversation with you. She explains it so much better, and—"

"I'm in."

"What?"

"I'm in," she repeated. "You don't have to sell me on it. It's actually kind of a relief."

"Right? This way none of us have to choose one or the other." She frowned. "It's too bad the universe picked today to absolutely fuck us. Who the hell put that much weed in her locker? I kept a dime bag or two in mine back when I still went to that hellhole, but two pounds? You're sure?"

"It's all over Facebook. My phone still won't load the video, but we can probably pull it up on Rachel's computer."

"Good idea." She disabled the screensaver, and brought up the internet browser. A few clicks later and she found a post containing the video in question.

"Oh, vertical? Seriously? Learn to turn your phone sideways, dillhole!"

"Chloe, shh! We don't know who's still home."

"Right, sorry." The video buffered for a few seconds before playing, and they both squinted, trying to identify what was happening. "Well at the very least, Kate won't need to worry about being a viral video star for much longer. Fucking vultures."

"There could be clues," said Max, leaning in close. Slightly louder than the murmurs of the crowd, they could hear David speaking.

"I'm not nearly as old-fashioned as you kids think. The combinations to all these lockers are stored on a secure database, which I have access to. There's even an app for it."

"Well, congratulations on making it to the twenty-first century."

A few seconds passed as David examined his phone.

"Aha. There it is."

"David, what the hell? There's nothing in my locker. This is a serious invasion of privacy. I ought to call my dad and—"

Rachel fell silent, and they saw David produce something from the locker, holding it smugly in front of him.

"That's marijuana alright."

"Did he seriously just pronounce it mary-huana?"

"That's how you pronounce it in Spanish."

"I'm pretty sure it's not."

"Whatever. Shush."

"Whoever took this video doesn't know the difference between a camera and a sack of gumballs," she remarked. "Isn't Blackwell like ninety percent art students?"

Max looked to the heavens for deliverance, but found none. "Go back a few seconds."

"Isn't that your power?"

"Chloe…"

"Yeesh. Okay, okay, rewinding."

"I'm not nearly as old-fashioned as you kids think," the David in the video said again. "The combinations to all these lockers are stored on a secure database, which I have access to. There's even an app for it."

"There," said Max. "That's our next lead. Whoever got into Rachel's locker must have gotten access to that database."

"That narrows our suspects down to exactly one," she replied. "I told you step-douche did it."

"Come on Chloe, think: where would he get access to that much pot?"

"You mean besides raiding my stash?"

"You couldn't possibly have been sitting on that much marijuana. You smoke it too often, and I know you can't afford to buy it in bulk."

"Fair point. I didn't have more than two ounces, actually."

"We've already ruled out Frank, which leaves us with Nathan."

"Who probably bought it from Frank. Although…"

"What?"

Chloe walked backwards, sitting down on the bed as she contemplated. "When Rachel and I got back here last night, Nathan's car was parked out front. According to her mom, Nathan's involved in some kind of mentoring program with Rachel's dad. I don't know what they're actually up to, but why would he plant drugs in her locker if he's working with her dad?"

"Then who did it?"

"I dunno. But right now we need to find that cash."

Max nodded. "Let's keep looking."

The stained glass doors of the Amber household slammed open as Rachel stomped inside, her father following at a leisurely pace, saying nothing. Pivoting in place, she glanced around the room, confused.

"Where's mom?"

"Oh, I thought she told you. She texted me this morning saying she was meeting Joyce Price at the Two Whales. She should be back later on." He frowned. "We can have a conversation then."

Rachel's hairs stood on end as she remembered the conversation that took place in the dining room. And here she'd thought this day couldn't be any more of a disaster. It had started out so well, too.

"Does that mean I can go to my room?"

He nodded. "You're not grounded. Like I said, Rachel: I believe you. I know there's been a rift between us ever since…" He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck. "I just want you to know that I'm here for you. If you need anything."

Rolling her eyes, Rachel turned away and folded her arms over her chest. "Did you hear anything I said back in the Principal's office? I can't even get in trouble like a normal teenager! Quit being so fucking…"

"What? Supportive? Understanding?"

"Fake! You walk on eggshells around me because you think, somehow, it'll get us back to where we were before you got my mother killed!" She leaned forward, gesticulating wildly. "That's never going to fucking happen! So go ahead! Yell at me! Put your foot down! Tell me I'm grounded forever! Do something that isn't total fucking bullshit for once in your life!"

He stood there as she hollered at him, and took it without complaint. When the storm of her anger broke, he looked up sadly at her, with the face of a broken man.

"I'm not going to do any of that, Rachel. You're my daughter, and I love you. Everything I did, I did it with the intention of protecting you. I didn't realize I'd gone too far until it was too late. I'm sorry."

She shook her head mercilessly. "Not good enough."

With that, she marched up the stairs, towards her bedroom, stomping so hard that she failed to hear the two teenage girls frantically attempting to flee through the window.

Rachel slammed the door open, and saw Chloe halfway through her window, while Max was right on her heels. The latter turned and extended her arm, and the door flew shut behind her. Chloe walked backwards across the room, stopping at her computer where a video of what had transpired at her locker was playing.

The rewind finished, and Rachel stood there with her hands on her hips, one eyebrow arched.

Max squeaked like a field mouse, her hands flying over her mouth. "Oh crap."

"Max. Chloe." She didn't even have the energy to process this right now. "What are you doing in my room?"

"Trying to save all our asses," said Chloe, striding quickly over to her. "Where's Frank's money?"

"Safe." She leaned back, staring hard at the blue-haired punk she loved so much. "Why do you want to know?"

Chloe groaned. "The whole fucking internet knows what happened this morning. You really think if your dad or step-douche find out my drug dealer loaned us three grand that's not gonna fuck both of us right up the ass?"

"Of course I know that," she replied. "That's why I don't keep it in my bedroom. I get that you're worried, but that doesn't give you the right to break into my fucking house."

"You're right." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes. "But texting you was too risky. For all we knew they could have confiscated your phone."

"They didn't." Rachel held up both arms and began to pace, turning slowly in a circle as she did so. "In fact, I'm barely in trouble at all. You should have heard Wells bend over backwards to kiss my ass even as he was suspending me. And my dad doesn't even want to ground me."

"I'm confused," said Max. "How is that a bad thing?"

"Rachel just feels guilty that she gets held to a different standard than you or me," Chloe answered. "If they found that much weed in my locker I'd be getting a five-to-ten sentence if I was lucky. They expelled me three years ago just 'cause I ditched with her."

"I tried to cover for you. You didn't let me."

"Hey, I never wanted to be at that shithole anyway. You did me a favor. I wasn't gonna let you take the fall for that."

"Whatever. That just proves my point. I don't want to be treated like I'm special. My dad doesn't want to punish me because he knows he doesn't have a leg to stand on after the shit he pulled three years ago. Wells knows Blackwell would get buried in a scandal if it turned out the DA's daughter was dealing drugs right under his nose. David's the only one who seemed halfway interested in actually treating me like a suspect, but the whole thing's moot because that weed wasn't mine to begin with."

"Then what's the problem? This whole thing could get swept under the rug."

"But like you said, the whole fucking internet knows," she pointed out. "I want to be treated like a normal person, not crucified. They're probably burning me in effigy already."

"It'll take more than a viral video for the world to stop treating you like a princess," said Chloe. "Believe me. Besides, given the number of stoners at Blackwell you're probably even more of a god to them now."

"But they're not the only ones who're gonna find out about this! All my parents' friends, college recruiters, the local newspaper, the cops… Chloe, if this blows up, we won't be able to move a fucking inch without someone breathing down our necks, much less do anything on our list. And we can forget about ever leaving Arcadia Bay."

"Someone's already breathing down our necks," said Chloe, scratching the back of her head and handing her a business card. "I got picked up by a couple of suits while I was on my way to meet you at Blackwell. They wanted me to snitch on Joseph Black Elk."

"You told them no, right?"

"Duh. But they tried to extort me by making up a bunch of shit about you."

Rachel handed the card back, then walked past them to her bed, where she sat down. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

"For one, that summer camp where you met Sam was supposedly a front for an arms deal."

"It was," she revealed. "Didn't know it at the time, of course. I found out later, when Sam and I got reunited."

"How did you get back in touch with her?" asked Max, crossing her arms and walking closer. "Those agents told Chloe you were running drugs for her and Frank. That's not true, is it?"

She shook her head. "Of course not."

"But you were spending time with both of them," said Chloe. "Weren't you?"

"Fine. You want the whole story? We needed money to leave. How do you think I convinced Frank to front you all that cash? I wasn't running drugs, I was running messages. Stuff that was too sensitive to send over texts when all sorts of people could have been monitoring their communications. Sam and Frank couldn't be seen together, so I was their go-between. That all stopped six months ago, right after Max called. I realized I couldn't do it anymore."

"What kind of messages?"

"Mostly logistical stuff. Frank kept paper ledgers, and I delivered photocopies to Sam. I also passed on orders to Frank. It was all pretty boring, actually. Neither of them ran things like Damon."

Max craned her head back. "Who's Damon?"

"Damon Merrick," answered Chloe. "Violent son of a bitch who ran the drug trade three years ago. He also had his hands in dog fighting, loan sharking… if it was illegal and it happened in Arcadia Bay, he was probably involved."

"He also got hired by my scumbag father to keep my biological mother from reuniting with me," added Rachel. "She was suing him for shared custody, so he paid Damon to kidnap her and get her re-addicted to drugs after she'd been sober for a year."

"But not for free." Chloe scowled, staring at the floor. "He stabbed Rachel in the arm when we asked Frank to help us find Sera, so while her parents were staying with her at the hospital, Rachel had me break into her dad's office. I found a burner phone with texts from Damon, and he had me destroy evidence and point out which of his guys was a snitch. I convinced him it was some asshole who whined about me spilling his beer."

"What happened then?"

"I went to the mill, where he was holding Sera. I offered him the money to let her go, but… well, I was sixteen years old and he was a violent psychopath, so that went about as well as you'd expect. He injected Sera with a fatal dose, and he would have killed me too if Frank hadn't shown up. Somehow Frank killed him, even though he was wounded pretty bad from fighting him earlier."

Max took several steps back, clutching her forehead. "Holy shit. So that's what you meant the other night. About your dad owing you."

Rachel nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me you were involved in all this?" asked Chloe. "I could have helped. It's not like I'm a stranger to running errands for Frank."

"I know. But I was doing it so you wouldn't have to. I thought it would never come up. Guess I was wrong."

"So you'll freak out about your dad lying to you for years, then turn around and do the same thing to your best friend? How many more secrets are you keeping from me, Rachel?"

"Chloe!" Max stepped between them. "Ease up, okay? I'm sure she had a reason."

"Well I'd love to hear it!"

"I was doing it for us, okay?" Rachel stood up and marched forward, forcing Max to step out of the way. "The reason I never told you is because it'd attract less attention that way. Look at me! Would you for a minute suspect that the Queen of Blackwell would be involved in something like that?"

"Obviously I didn't."

"Exactly! But you're too much of a…"

Chloe's nostrils flared, and she stepped closer. "A what? Say it!"

"A punk! A delinquent! Someone the cops would instantly suspect if they saw you spending more time with Frank than it took to buy your monthly bag of weed. But hey, I figured if people are gonna refuse to treat me like a criminal anyway, I might as well take advantage of that!"

"Well clearly that didn't work! The FBI threatened to burn you if I didn't work for them! I might've actually said yes if I knew it was all true! How the fuck could you put me in this position?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Who suggested we go see a domestic terrorist just to find out about superpowers you may not even have? Huh? Who put us all on their radar?! Because it sure as hell wasn't me or Max!"

Rachel deflated, clutching her forehead and collapsing back onto the bed. "Fucking shit."

"Damn straight."

"We can still get out of this," said Max. "We just need to find out who put the bag of weed in your locker. Chloe and I found a lead."

Her face softened. "Really?"

"In the video. David said all the locker combinations are kept on a secure database. If we can find out who got access to that…"

"How? It's not like they signed a guest list."

"Warren and Brooke should know. Brooke programmed custom flight patterns for her drone, and Warren's taken a computer science class or two. They'll know where to start."

"Meantime, you and I need to get that money and pay off Frank before this gets any more complicated," said Chloe. "I know we have until Thursday, but who knows what other bullshit will spring up by then?"

"Agreed," said Rachel. "But not without Max. If things go sideways with Frank… well, I wouldn't mind having a human rewind button this time around."

"Then I'll help her with her little errand and we'll meet up later. Just get the money ready."

She nodded. "Roger that. And Chloe?"

"What?"

"Have you talked to Max about… the other thing?"

Max nodded. "She did. And I'm on board."

"Good. One less thing to worry about. We'll have to celebrate."

"Later," said Chloe, already climbing out the window. "Right now we gotta dig you out of this hole. I'll text you when we're ready."

"Sure thing. And next time use the front door, okay?"

She smirked wickedly. "This pirate makes no promises." She proceeded to fall backwards, landing with a hard thud on the ledge. Her hand appeared a moment later, forming a thumbs-up. "I'm fine!"

As if synchronized, Max and Rachel both facepalmed. "We'll get you out of this, Rachel. I promise."

"I know, Max." She rose from the bed and kissed her on the cheek. "For luck."

She waited a few seconds for the blood to stop rushing to her face, then followed Chloe out the window. Rachel stared after them with her arms crossed.

"This has been a hella strange morning."